Seafloor erosional processes offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
David C. Twichell, John Brock
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3026
The Chandeleur Islands are a chain of barrier islands that lies along the eastern side of the modern Mississippi River Delta plain. The island chain is located near the seaward edge of the relict St. Bernard Delta, the part of the Mississippi Delta that formed between approximately 4,000 and 2,000...
Holocene evolution of Apalachicola Bay, Florida
Lisa E. Osterman, David C. Twichell
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3028
A program of geophysical mapping and vibracoring was conducted in 2007 to better understand the geologic evolution of Apalachicola Bay and its response to sea-level rise. A detailed geologic history could help better understand how this bay may respond to both short-term (for example, storm surge) and long-term sea-level rise....
Early results from the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility Project
John Brock, Dawn L. Lavoie, Richard Z. Poore
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3031
The northern Gulf of Mexico coastal region and its diverse ecosystems are threatened by population and development pressure and by the impacts of rising sea level and severe storms such as the series of hurricanes that has impacted the northern Gulf in recent years. In response to the complex management...
Fluctuations in groundwater levels related to regional and local withdrawals in the fractured-bedrock groundwater system in northern Wake County, North Carolina, March 2008-February 2009
Melinda J. Chapman, Naser Almanaseer, Bryce McClenney, Natalie Hinton
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5219
A study of dewatering of the fractured-bedrock aquifer in a localized area of east-central North Carolina was conducted from March 2008 through February 2009 to gain an understanding of why some privately owned wells and monitoring wells were intermittently dry. Although the study itself was localized in nature, the resulting...
Evidence of multidecadal climate variability in the Gulf of Mexico
Richard Z. Poore, John Brock
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3027
The northern Gulf of Mexico coastal region is vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards, many of which are linked to climate and climate variability. Hurricanes, which are one such climate-related hazard, are a major recurring problem, and the active hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005 raised interest in better...
Big Spring spinedace and associated fish populations and habitat conditions in Condor Canyon, Meadow Valley Wash, Nevada
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly, Carrie S. Munz, Chris Dixon
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1072
Executive Summary: This project was designed to document habitat conditions and populations of native and non-native fish within the 8-kilometer Condor Canyon section of Meadow Valley Wash, Nevada, with an emphasis on Big Spring spinedace (Lepidomeda mollispinis pratensis). Other native fish present were speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) and desert sucker...
Use of instantaneous streamflow measurements to improve regression estimates of index flow for the summer month of lowest streamflow in Michigan
David J. Holtschlag
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5236
In Michigan, index flow Q50 is a streamflow characteristic defined as the minimum of median flows for July, August, and September. The state of Michigan uses index flow estimates to help regulate large (greater than 100,000 gallons per day) water withdrawals to prevent adverse effects on characteristic fish populations. At...
Buffelgrass-Integrated modeling of an invasive plant
Tracy R. Holcombe
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3022
Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) poses a problem in the deserts of the United States, growing in dense stands and introducing a wildfire risk in an ecosystem not adapted to fire. The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center has worked with many partners to develop a decision support...
Tillage practices in the conterminous United States, 1989-2004: Datasets aggregated by watershed
Nancy T. Baker
2011, Data Series 573
This report documents the methods used to aggregate county-level tillage practices to the 8-digit hydrologic unit (HU) watershed. The original county-level data were collected by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). The CTIC collects tillage data by conducting surveys about tillage systems for all counties in the United States. Tillage...
Graphic products used in the evaluation of traditional and emerging remote sensing technologies for the detection of fugitive contamination at selected superfund hazardous waste sites
E. Terrence Slonecker, Gary B. Fisher
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1068
This report presents the overhead imagery and field sampling results used to prepare U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011-1050, 'Evaluation of Traditional and Emerging Remote Sensing Technologies for the Detection of Fugitive Contamination at Selected Superfund Hazardous Waste Sites'. These graphic products were used in the evaluation of remote sensing...
Mines and mineral processing facilities in the vicinity of the March 11, 2011, earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan
W. David Menzie, Michael S. Baker, Donald I. Bleiwas, Chin Kuo
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1069
U.S. Geological Survey data indicate that the area affected by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 earthquake and associated tsunami is home to nine cement plants, eight iodine plants, four iron and steel plants, four limestone mines, three copper refineries, two gold refineries, two lead refineries, two zinc refineries, one...
Simulated effects of allocated and projected 2025 withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, Gloucester and Northeastern Salem Counties, New Jersey
Emmanuel G. Charles, John P. Nawyn, Lois M. Voronin, Alison D. Gordon
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5033
Withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in New Jersey, which includes the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers, are the principal source of groundwater supply in northern Gloucester and northeastern Salem Counties in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Water levels in these aquifers have declined in response to pumping. With...
A national-scale geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous United States
David B. Smith, William F. Cannon, Laurel G. Woodruff
2011, Applied Geochemistry (26) S250-S255
In 2007, the US Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1600 km2, c. 4800 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous USA. The ideal sampling protocol at each site includes a sample from 0–5 cm depth, a composite of the soil A horizon, and a sample from...
Baseline ecological risk assessment of the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana: Part 2. An evaluation of the predictive ability of effects-based sediment-quality guidelines
Donald D. MacDonald, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Dawn Smorong, Jesse A. Sinclair, Rebekka Lindskoog, Ning Wang, Corrine Severn, Ron Gouguet, John Meyer, Jay Field
2011, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (61) 14-28
Three sets of effects-based sediment-quality guidelines (SQGs) were evaluated to support the selection of sediment-quality benchmarks for assessing risks to benthic invertebrates in the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana. These SQGs included probable effect concentrations (PECs), effects range median values (ERMs), and logistic regression model (LRMs)-based T50 values. The results of this...
Three-dimensional geologic model of the southeastern Espanola Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
Michael P. Pantea, Mark R. Hudson, V. J. S. Grauch, Scott A. Minor
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5025
This multimedia model and report show and describe digital three-dimensional faulted surfaces and volumes of lithologic units that confine and constrain the basin-fill aquifers within the Espanola Basin of north-central New Mexico. These aquifers are the primary groundwater resource for the cities of Santa Fe and Espanola, six Pueblo nations,...
Terrestrial essential climate variables (ECVs) at a glance
Susan Stitt, John Dwyer, Dennis Dye, Edward Josberger
2011, Scientific Investigations Map 3155
The Global Terrestrial Observing System, Global Climate Observing System, World Meteorological Organization, and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites all support consistent global land observations and measurements. To accomplish this goal, the Global Terrestrial Observing System defined 'essential climate variables' as measurements of atmosphere, oceans, and land that are technically and...
Regional skew for California, and flood frequency for selected sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin, based on data through water year 2006
Charles Parrett, Andrea Veilleux, J.R. Stedinger, N.A. Barth, Donna L. Knifong, J.C. Ferris
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5260
Improved flood-frequency information is important throughout California in general and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin in particular, because of an extensive network of flood-control levees and the risk of catastrophic flooding. A key first step in updating flood-frequency information is determining regional skew. A Bayesian generalized least squares (GLS)...
cloudPEST - A python module for cloud-computing deployment of PEST, a program for parameter estimation
Michael N. Fienen, Thomas C. Kunicki, Daniel E. Kester
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1062
This report documents cloudPEST-a Python module with functions to facilitate deployment of the model-independent parameter estimation code PEST on a cloud-computing environment. cloudPEST makes use of low-level, freely available command-line tools that interface with the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2(TradeMark)) that are unlikely to change dramatically. This report describes the...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the West African Costal Province, West Africa
Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Troy A. Cook, Richard M. Pollastro
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3034
The West African Coastal Province along the west African coastline recently was assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids resources as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's USGS World Oil and Gas Assessment. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS estimated mean volumes of 3.2...
Sediment samples and channel-geometry data, lower Platte River watershed, Nebraska, 2010
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Jason S. Alexander
2011, Data Series 572
The relation between channel width and stream physical habitat in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska was studied as part of the lower Platte River Cumulative Impact Study. The purpose of this component was to document the grain-size distribution of sediment deposited as specific types of physical features, such...
Publications of the Volcano Hazards Program 2009
Manuel Nathenson
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1047
The Volcano Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is part of the Geologic Hazards Assessments subactivity as funded by congressional appropriation. Investigations are carried out in the USGS and with cooperators at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, University of...
Sutter Buttes: The lone volcano in California's Great Valley
Brian P. Hausback, L.J. Patrick Muffler, Michael A. Clynne
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3024
The volcanic spires of the Sutter Buttes tower 2,000 feet above the farms and fields of California's Great Valley, just 50 miles north-northwest of Sacramento and 11 miles northwest of Yuba City. The only volcano within the valley, the Buttes consist of a central core of volcanic domes surrounded by...
Distribution of trace metals at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Berks and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania
Ronald A. Sloto, Andrew G. Reif
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5014
Hopewell Furnace, located approximately 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, was a cold-blast, charcoal iron furnace that operated for 113 years (1771 to 1883). The purpose of this study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, was to determine the distribution of trace metals released to...
Endocrine active chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals of concern in surface water, wastewater-treatment plant effluent, and bed sediment, and biological characteristics in selected streams, Minnesota: Design, methods, and data, 2009
Kathy Lee, Susan K. Langer, Larry B. Barber, Jeff H. Writer, Mark L. Ferrey, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Edward T. Furlong, William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Rhiannon C. ReVello, Dalma Martinovic, Olivia R. Woodruff, Steffanie H. Keefe, Greg K. Brown, Howard E. Taylor, Imma Ferrer, E. Michael Thurman
2011, Data Series 575
This report presents the study design, environmental data, and quality-assurance data for an integrated chemical and biological study of selected streams or lakes that receive wastewater-treatment plant effluent in Minnesota. This study was a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Cloud State University,...
Bank erosion of navigation canals in the western and central Gulf of Mexico
Cindy A. Thatcher, Stephen B. Hartley, Scott A. Wilson
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1017
Erosion of navigation canal banks is a direct cause of land loss, but there has been little quantitative analysis to determine why certain major canals exhibit faster widening rates (indicative of erosion) than others in the coastal zones of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We hypothesize that navigation canals exhibit...
